As soon as I started thinking of an article to write. The first title that came to mind was crime and serial killings. And the first name that came to my mind, not only me but many would think of the same name, is Jack the ripper. A brutal and vicious killer whose name is synonymous with evil and suffering.
It remains one of the greatest mysteries of all time. Till now there are no solid leads and information regarding the killer. We don’t even know if the killer is he/she. It was one of the theories about the killer.
Introduction
It all began in London, in 1888 in the Whitechapel district. It was a dark time in London. Immigrants and refugees overcrowded the Whitechapel district. It was also a time of economic crisis and crime rates were skyrocketing such as prostitution, robbery, violence, alcoholism, etc.
The killing, commonly referred to as the Whitechapel murders took place during these dark times. Even though it’s been nearly 185 years since the murders took place, it is still one of the most studied incidents.
The killings were not spread across the country, he had only 5 victims, which the police were sure of, and he was active just for 3 months or so. But he is still infamous for the word serial killing due to various factors such as the gruesome way he killed the victims, the media coverage, and the letters he wrote.
I stated above that the police were sure of only about 5 murders. Because at that time there were more crimes against women. There were 11 or 12 incidents near the White Chapel district alone. But only 5 were related to the Ripper based on his method of killing, which I am not getting into details about because of the horrendous nature of the killings. So, it's best if we stay only in the mystery part.
The victims
The five victims of the ripper were known as the Canonical five. All five were prostitutes but sometimes it is mentioned that Mary Jane Kelly was not a prostitute. They are Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Jane Kelly. They were murdered in a horrific way. Due to the precision of handling the knife, the ripper was rumored or suspected to be a Doctor, someone with medical knowledge, and even a butcher.
The Investigation
During the killing, a huge police force was allocated to investigate Jack The Ripper. The 2 forces that participated in the investigations City of London police and the Metropolitan police (Scotland yard).
The main reason for the involvement of these 2 police forces is that 4 murders took place in the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan police and one murder comes under the jurisdiction of the City of London police. According to Wikipedia, nearly 2000 people were interviewed. Some were detained, and some were cleared, but the police were nowhere closer to identifying the killer.
Let us see about some of the officers involved in the investigation of the Ripper’s murders. These were some of the essential investigators in the study of these murders.
- Sir Charles Warren - He is the Metropolitan Police Commissioner who was also a well-known army man, archeologist, and cartographer. He was a capable and respectable man, who was said to be a good man for this job.
- SIR Robert Anderson was the Assistant Commissioner of the metropolitan police.
- James Monro was the Assistant Metropolitan Police Commissioner
- Major Henry Smith was the acting commissioner of the City Police, he came into this investigation as the result of the 4th murder that took place in the jurisdiction of the City of London police.
- Alfred Lawrence Foster was the Superintendent of the City of London Police during the fourth murder.
- Chief Inspector Donald Sutherland Swanson was the lead investigator in this case for a period of time. He was the head of the investigation.
- Superintendent Thomas Arnold was the head of the H division during the ripper case and was known as a good policeman with several controversies.
- Inspector Edmund Reid was the head of the CID department in the H division.
- Inspector Joseph Henry Helson was the head of the J-division where Mary Nichols was murdered.
- Inspector Frederick George Abberline was in charge of the ground investigation of the murders. He was then promoted to Scotland Yard.
- Inspector Henry Moore was one of the officers who were sent from Scotland yard to help with the case. He was working with Inspector George Aberline, who was the head of the investigation until recalled to the Scotland yard. At this point, Moore was made the head of that investigation.
- Sergeant William Thick was one of the policemen in the H division and was known as Upright Jonny and deemed to be a respectable policeman,
The letter from the Killer
Throughout the course of the investigation, the Police and the Newspapers received numerous letters claiming to be from the killer or advice on catching the killer. But there are 3 letters that are believed to be written by the devil himself, The Ripper.
- From Hell
- Dear Boss
- Saucy Jacky
Of the 3 letters, the Dear Boss and Saucy Jacky letters were thought to be written by the same person based on the handwriting.
But the most infamous among these letters was the From Hell letter. The letter was addressed to George Lusk, President of the Mile End Vigilance Committee. The previous letters mostly contained threats and illustrations about the murders. But in this case, a package with half a kidney was sent to George Lusk. The letter claimed that the killer had eaten the other half.
Conclusion
Did you know that criminal profiling done for the Ripper case is one of the earliest or first known cases to do profiling? From that era to now, policing, investigating, and forensic techniques have grown tremendously. There are many hurdles in investigating and catching a killer in this modern era, I cannot even imagine the pressure, stress, and difficulties in processing the case during that time. There were not even fingerprint identification techniques.
The police needed to work only based on witnesses and primitive investigation and forensic techniques. 100 years have passed by, but the history of the Ripper still lives through various museums and artifacts, movies, TV shows, books, etc.
. . .
Reference: